A collection of 29 posts
Sensational 2021 claims that unmarked Indigenous child graves had been discovered in British Columbia now seem doubtful. But saying so may soon be a criminal offence
The urge to censor is based on a misunderstanding of what makes literature valuable.
How an octogenarian artist defied curatorial bureaucracy.
While calls to censor hate speech and violent extremist content on social media platforms are common, there’s little evidence that online incitement leads to real-world radicalization. Ironically, such calls may actually galvanize extremists, who interpret hostile media coverage, commentary, and censorship policies as confirmation of their victimhood narratives and
We need to break the spell of illiberal ideology, and come back to our collective senses—to stop self-censoring in fear of the mob and excusing nonsense in the name of political allyship, and to start defending the values of pluralism, humanism, and democracy.
An embrace of the art for art’s sake ideal is the greatest defense for artists against self-censorship. Those who defend art from moralizing or censure—who accept the reality of art’s autonomy—are those who see art for what it is.
The Legacy social networks have betrayed the trust of their users to such extent that their brands are essentially unsalvageable.
Canadian editor Jonathan Kay talks to Meghan Murphy, the founder of Feminist Current, a radical feminist blog and podcast. Meghan was recently banned from Twitter for “dead-naming” and “misgendering” trans women, activities that are now prohibited in Twitter’s terms of service. She wrote about this for Quillette.
That seems itself to be an example of divisiveness and a snub to one form of diversity: that of diverse opinion.
The very writers, publishers, poets, musicians, comedians, media producers and artists who once worried about being muzzled by the government are now self-organizing on social media (Twitter, especially) to censor each other.
Artists should be nervous when advocacy groups gain influence over the creative process: Their focus is never art. It’s always their own narrow agenda.
Bitcoin’s decentralized network means that regardless of how much corporate America hates some commentator, it can’t stop you from sending her cryptocurrency.
It wouldn’t be misleading to say that the greatest threat to free speech today comes from free speech itself.
China quickly found itself facing dissatisfaction from those steamrollered by a policy of growth at all costs, in spite of the country’s economic and diplomatic successes.